Swiss stocks - Factors to watch on April 4

ZURICH, April 4 (Reuters) - The Swiss blue-chip SMI was seen opening 0.1 percent firmer at 8,638 points on Wednesday, according to premarket indications by bank Julius Baer.

Here are some of the main factors that may affect Swiss stocks:

SWISS RE

The world’s second-biggest reinsurer says confirms that negotiations are ongoing in respect of a minority investment by SoftBank in Swiss Re, currently expected not to exceed 10 percent of Swiss Re’s share capital. In parallel, the two parties are exploring areas of potential strategic cooperation.

Shares indicated down 1.3 percent.

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LAFARGEHOLCIM

Thomas Schmidheiny, the cement maker’s largest shareholder and a driving force behind the merger which created the company, will step down from its board at its 2018 annual general meeting. Schmidheiny, who owns 11.4 percent of the Franco-Swiss company, will remain a shareholder, it said. Former Lafarge Chairman and Chief Executive Bertrand Collomb will also be standing down.

ZURICH INSURANCE

The insurer holds its annual shareholders meeting at 1215 GMT

COMPANY STATEMENTS

* SIX Swiss Exchange said trading turnover in March rose 1.8 percent on the prior month to CHF 125.9 billion, equating to an average turnover of CHF 6.0 billion per trading day. The number of transactions climbed by 1.1 percent to 5.55 million.

* Jungfraubahn Holding AG: profit of 41.6 million Swiss francs in 2017, thus achieving best result in its history

AND NOW THIS

When people showed up for Spotify Technology SA’s market debut on Tuesday morning something was amiss: there was a Swiss flag flying in front of the New York Stock Exchange, but the world’s No. 1 streaming music company is based in Sweden. Within minutes, the NYSE, which is owned by Intercontinental Exchange Inc, noticed the mistake and put up the correct flag, alongside two American flags and beneath a massive Spotify banner, but not before it began trending on social media. Even the NYSE posted on Twitter about the flap.